Roman, P, Carrillo-Trabalón, F, Sánchez-Labraca, N et al. · Beneficial microbes · 2018 · DOI
This review looked at whether probiotic supplements (live beneficial bacteria) might help people with ME/CFS or fibromyalgia. Researchers searched for high-quality studies and found only two small studies in ME/CFS patients. These studies showed that specific probiotic strains reduced anxiety and markers of inflammation, but there isn't enough evidence yet to say probiotics are a proven treatment.
Understanding the role of gut microbiota in ME/CFS pathophysiology is important because it may identify new therapeutic targets. This review highlights that specific probiotics show promise for anxiety and inflammation—key ME/CFS features—but also reveals a critical gap in the research that limits clinical recommendations.
This review does not establish that probiotics are an effective treatment for ME/CFS or that microbiota dysbiosis causes ME/CFS. The extremely limited number of studies (only two) means these findings cannot be generalized, and the modest sample size leaves uncertainty about clinical significance. Improved anxiety and inflammatory markers do not necessarily translate to improvement in core ME/CFS symptoms like post-exertional malaise or fatigue.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Roman, P, Carrillo-Trabalón, F, Sánchez-Labraca, N, Cañadas, F, Estévez, A F, & Cardona, D (2018). Are probiotic treatments useful on fibromyalgia syndrome or chronic fatigue syndrome patients? A systematic review.. Beneficial microbes. https://doi.org/10.3920/BM2017.0125
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-roman-2018-probiotic-treatments,
author = {Roman, P and Carrillo-Trabalón, F and Sánchez-Labraca, N and Cañadas, F and Estévez, A F and Cardona, D},
title = {Are probiotic treatments useful on fibromyalgia syndrome or chronic fatigue syndrome patients? A systematic review.},
journal = {Beneficial microbes},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.3920/BM2017.0125},
note = {PubMed: 29695180},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/roman-2018-probiotic-treatments},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/roman-2018-probiotic-treatments
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.